He was loved from the football terraces to the opera houses, but how did Luciano Pavarotti become one of the world's greatest musical artists?

Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy in 1935 to a humble family of poor origins. As a child he had an intense interest in football and became a die-hard Juventus fan.

His interest in classical music began with his father, a keen amateur tenor himself.

He worked for two years as an elementary school teacher and then an insurance salesman before deciding to pursue a musical career full time. After six years of study with little or no pay, including one period when he nearly quit singing, he achieved his first operatic debut in 1961 singing in the role of Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme, in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

His first big break in America came in 1965 when he sang in Lucia di Lammermoor when he was suggested to fill a vacancy by co-star Joan Sutherland, after the original tenor dropped out due to illness.

Following this he stepped into another role at Covent Garden and appeared at La Scala the following year.

Pavarotti's first major achievement came in 1972 with the Nine C's. He was singing at the New York Metropolitan Opera and during the performance of La fille du regiment he effortlessly hit nine high C's in a row, sending the audience into a rapturous fever.

He received 17 curtain calls for his performance.

'I have had everything in life, really everything. And if everything is taken away from me, with God we're even and quits.'
Luciano PavarottiThat night marked the dawn of a golden age for Pavarotti.

In the following years he sang worldwide, made frequent television appearances; had the first performance in at Great Hall of the People in China and was awarded numerous Grammy awards and platinum and gold discs for his performances.

Arguably the crowing achievement of his career was his version of Nessun Dorma which became the theme song for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

The performance had massive successive both on the terraces and in the shops.

This was closely followed by the Three Tenors gig in Rome's ancient Baths on the eve of the World Cup with Placido Dominigo and Jose Carreras. It became the best selling classical record of all time, which resulted in further Three Tenor concerts worldwide.

It was in 1973 that he acquired a signature mark - a white dinner table napkin, which he was given after asking for a handkerchief because he was perspiring.

However he was also known as the 'King Of Cancellations', for his reputation for cancelling tours or appearances at very short notice - one opera house had 26 out of 41 performances cancelled by him.

He was a close friend of Princess Diana, but declined to sing at her funeral saying he could not sing well "with his grief in his throat...". And in 1995 he sang on the U2 song Miss Sarajevo.

He became the only opera singer to perform on Saturday Night Live in 1998.

In 2000 he had a bitter divorce from his wife, Adua. He then married his personal assistant Nicoletta Mantovani, 34 years his junior in 2003.

Nicolleta gave birth to twin boy and girl Riccardo and Alice, but as the pregnancy had ran into complications his son was stillborn. Pavarotti recorded and devoted his first solo album in 15 years, the 'popera' album Ti Adoro (I love you), to Alice.

His last operatic performance was in 2004 when he performed in Tosca at the New York Metropolitan Opera and received a 12-minute standing ovation.

His final public appearance was in 2006 at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy when he sang Nessun Dorma to massive acclaim.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and retreated to his villa in Modena. Although he had promised conducing one more world tour, this had to be cancelled due to medical difficulties.

In one of his last ever interviews Pavarotti said, "I have had everything in life, really everything. And if everything is taken away from me, with God we're even and quits."

Pavarotti died early in the morning of the 6 September 2007 at his family home. His manager sent the email messaging saying:

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of the illness."